Musings and Sometimes Rants about the non-equal status of Fathers in Family Law and Parenting. Additionally periodic comparisons to the treatment of men compared to women in other areas including health care.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

WHEREAS Parents could cause children to suffer from Parental Alienation;
and

WHEREAS Some of the behaviours of Parental Alienation interfere with
parental communication and time together; and

WHEREAS These behaviours can interfere with a loving parent and child bond,
depriving children of their right to love and be loved by both
parents; and

WHEREAS Awareness, education and understanding, play an important role in
preventing the effects of Parental Alienation:

NOW THEREFORE, I, John Rowswell, by virtue of the power vested in me as
Mayor of the City of Sault Ste. Marie, do hereby proclaim and pronounce April
25, 2010 "PARENTAL ALIENATION AWARENESS DAY" in the City of Sault
Ste. Marie.

Sunday, April 25th marks the 5th Anniversary of Parental Alienation Awareness Day. This day is marked on calendars around the globe to educate and bring awareness to the terrible abuse children suffer when they are alienated from a parent.

As an affiliate of the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization (PAAO), the Canadian Equal Parenting Council (CEPC) marks this day as a time to measure progress, socially and politically. The CEPC is a coalition of 42 family rights organizations with the common mission to secure every child's right to be equally parented when the relationship between the father and the mother breaks down.

While PAAO promotes awareness and support, the Canadian Equal Parenting Council lobbies for political change in how the laws deal with families in turmoil. A Joint press conference was held by the two organizations on Friday, April 23rd at 10:00am at Queen's Park, Ontario with special guests Jill Egizii, author of The Look of Love, a novel about parental alienation and federal MP Jim Karygiannis.

"Education is key, but it must be backed up by action. There have been some very note worthy events in the past year and some public figures deserve credit for what they are doing right," says Kris Titus, Co-President of the Canadian Equal Parenting Council.

In Ontario, 130 family court judges and many mental health providers were trained and educated in how to recognize and deal with parental alienation.

The province also introduced their annual Family Day to reflect the benefits to society of healthy children and healthy families, and the Office of the Children's Lawyer has participated in coordinating workshops and conferences about dealing with high conflict divorce including parental alienation in whole or in part.

Federally, the Canadian Equal Parenting Council recognizes MP Jim Karygiannis for the introduction of motionM-267 in the House of Commons that reads as follows: "That, in the opinion of the House, the government should recognize Parental Alienation Awareness Day and designate April 25 as National Parental Alienation Awareness Day in order to raise awareness of the magnitude of this problem and its devastating effect on children."

MP Maurice Vellacott is honored for his Private Member Bill C-422 to amend the Divorce Act to protect parent/child relationships through presumptive equal parenting. The bill also encourages judges to take into consideration if there is manipulation or influence on the child when making custody decisions and encourages dispute resolution instead of ongoing conflict in family law cases.

Very good work by Sharon and Paulette. Congratulations! Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of Paulette's climb to the top of the Cookstown Mall Tower to bring greater awareness of Parental Alienation.

Group targets divorce fallout

PARENTAL ALIENATION AWARENESS DAY: 'It's a sad situation when your children are turned against you in family court'

Posted 7 hours ago

Sharon Mawhinney hates to see her children upset. Unfortunately, as a result of her divorce, that's exactly what has happened.
But the Barrie mother of four said her children aren't the only ones hurting. The process and the mud-slinging have been hard on her, too.

"I'm a victim of parental alienation, and two of my children have been alienated," said Mawhinney, a member of Parental Alienation Awareness Ontario.

"My stage of alienation is severe and it's a sad situation when your children are turned against you in family court."

Mawhinney's personal experiences within family court motivated her to create an awareness event --

Parental Alienation Awareness Day (PAAD) -- to speak out against parental alienation and the emotional strain divorce puts on children.

The city's first PAAD event takes place Sunday at Centennial Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"A lot of people don't take the high road in family court, and the children get caught in the middle," she said.

"This event is about creating a public awareness about stopping this alienation of parents and kids. I'm fighting for parents' and childrens' rights.

"We're also encouraging people to speak up when they hear a parent bad-mouthing their ex-partner in front of their children," Mawhinney said. "Parents shouldn't be putting their hatred and their attitudes about each other on the kids."

Dr. Ken Marek couldn't agree more. The Barrie clinical psychologist said often when families split up, children will be affected on some level.

"There's often an incredible amount of emotion that comes with divorce and the kids do get caught up in it all or they become collateral damage," said Marek, who specializes in individual, couple and family counselling.

"The reality is, as much as divorcing parents attempt to make it an easy transition, it's always going to affect the kids somehow.

"Children often blame themselves for their parents splitting up, or try to think of ways to get them back together, or they'll start acting up," he added. "The more communication and civilized action there is between the parents, the children will adjust faster."

Mawhinney said she received approval from Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden to proclaim Sunday as Parental Alienation Awareness Day in Barrie.

The event is open to parents, children, grandparents and friends affected by alienation through divorce.

An information table will be set up with relevant books for sale, and children will be invited to blow 'bubbles of love' at noon during the event.

The bubbles symbolize a child's freedom to love both divorced parents, without feeling like they must chose a side, she said.

A similar event will be held in Alliston on Sunday, at 11:30 a.m. at Riverdale Park, near Stevenson Memorial Hospital.

Organizer Paulette MacDonald has been promoting the day for the past five years, and this year's event will include testimonials, singing and those same 'bubbles of love', which will be blown at noon all across Ontario and the world at these events.

"Those bubbles signify the ever rising love of our children and you can't contain the bubbles, just like they can't contain their love for their family," MacDonald said. "We're letting children know it's OK to love both parents."
MacDonald said even through her own divorce, that was the message she gave her children.
"I'm a divorced parent, and we decided to put our children first and didn't set foot inside a family court room," she said. "I just assumed that's the way all parents did it, to keep their children from getting caught up in everything."

After meeting her current partner in 2005, MacDonald was introduced to the more common way of divorce settlements.

"My partner's ex-wife began dragging them, and myself and my children, through the whole process," she said. "That's when we were all introduced to parental alienation and the emotional impact it has on children.

"Parental alienation usually occurs when there's an ugly divorce," MacDonald added.
MacDonald felt so strongly about this issue last year, that she scaled the water tower of the Cookstown Outlet Mall, dressed in a Batman costume, and hung a flying banner promoting parental alienation awareness.

"I also held a pre-event last year, before April 25 and we had a bunch of people come out to celebrate," she said.

The goal of both MacDonald and Mawhinney is to end this type of alienation among families, and have family court laws changed to prevent this from happening.

"The biggest problem is not enough people know this is happening in their own communities," she said. "It's going to take us years to get family laws changed, but we have to start somewhere."
MacDonald said character lessons at Simcoe County schools are helping prevent this problem.

"The school boards are doing a great job with character education," she said. "I want to see that bumped up."

About Me

I am Politically active and right of centre on most issues with the odd exception such as legalization of "Mary Jane".
I advocate on changes to Family Law - an incredibly dysfunctional arena where parents are pitted against one another and children are the victims.
My picture will sometimes show me as a younger man simply because I like them.

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Leading causes of Injury to Women 2006

In 2006, unintentional falls were the leading cause of nonfatal injury among women of every age group, and rates generally increased with age. Women aged 65 years and older had the highest rate of injury due to unintentional falls (59.7 per 1,000 women), while slightly more than 19 per 1,000 women aged 18–34 and 35–44 years experienced fall-related injuries. Unintentional injuries sustained as motor vehicle occupants were the second leading cause of injury among 18- to 34-year-olds (18.7 per 1,000), while unintentional overexertion was the second leading cause of injury among women aged 35–44 and 45–64 years (13.7 and 9.3 per 1,000, respectively). Among women aged 65 years and older, being unintentionally struck by or against an object was the second leading cause of injury (5.7 per 1,000).

Injury related Emergency Department Visits

Unintentional and intentional injuries each represented a higher proportion of emergency department (ED) visits for men than women in 2005. Among women and men aged 18 years and older, unintentional injuries accounted for 19.9 and 27.5 percent of ED visits, respectively, while intentional injuries, or assault, represented 1.4 and 2.7 percent of visits, respectively. Among both women and men, unintentional injury accounted for a higher percentage of ED visits among those living in non-metropolitan areas, while adults living in metropolitan areas had a slightly higher percentage of ED visits due to intentional injury.